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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Sarah Wollaston – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Sarah Wollaston – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Wollaston on 2015-12-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Health on the Chief Medical Officer’s recommendations that PSHE education be made a routine part of children’s education.

    Edward Timpson

    We want all children to lead healthy and active lives. Schools have a key role to play in supporting this; the new national curriculum sets the expectation that pupils are taught, across a variety of subjects, about the importance of leading healthy and active lives.

    Schools and teachers already recognise the importance of good PSHE education and know that healthy, resilient, confident pupils are better placed to achieve academically and to be stretched further. In the introduction to the national curriculum, we have made clear that all schools should make provision for PSHE, drawing on examples of good practice.

    The Secretary of State for Education has regular discussions with the Secretary of State for Health about children’s health and the role schools can play in tackling childhood obesity.

  • Julian Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Julian Knight – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Knight on 2016-01-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether he plans to carry out an impact assessment after completion of the further education area review.

    Nick Boles

    Government will produce an evaluation of the area review programme and its potential to impact on groups protected by the Equality Act 2010. The reviews do not however, mandate action, and colleges are independent corporations, so it will be for each college’s governing body to assess the potential impact on groups protected by the Act, as part of its decision to accept or reject any recommendation requiring a change to their provision

  • Ian Blackford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Ian Blackford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Blackford on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions he (a) has had and (b) plans to have with Rio Tinto on that company’s strategic review of its smelter operations in Lochaber.

    Anna Soubry

    The future of the Lochaber smelter is largely a devolved matter, but the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has discussed Rio Tinto’s strategic review with the Scottish Government and will maintain these contacts as the situation develops. There have been no direct contacts with Rio Tinto, but BIS officials have discussed this matter with the Aluminium Federation, which represents the aluminium industry in the UK.

  • Lord Tebbit – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Tebbit – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Tebbit on 2016-03-16.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bridges of Headley on 14 March (HL6673), whether Mr Hopkins importuned any persons to sign letters to national newspapers concerning the European Referendum or the consequences of a national vote for leaving the EU; and if so, how many (1) were importuned, (2) signed, and (3) declined to do so.

    Lord Bridges of Headley

    I refer the Noble Lord to the Prime Minister’s answer to the hon. Member for Mid Bedfordshire (Ms Dorries) on 22 February 2016, Official Report, column 32. As set out in the Civil Service Code, it is the role of the civil service to support the Government of the day in developing and implementing its policies.

  • Jon Trickett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Jon Trickett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jon Trickett on 2016-04-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the amount of local government procurement that has been spent on small and medium-sized businesses in each of the last five years.

    Mr Marcus Jones

    The Government is committed to ensuring there is a simple and consistent approach to procurement across the public sector so that small businesses can gain better and more access to public sector contracts – either directly or as sub-contractors.

    The Government produced guidance as part of the reforms included in the Public Contract Regulations 2015 which aim to make public contracts more accessible to businesses and in particular to small and medium enterprises. The reforms included the abolition of pre-qualification questionnaire for low value tenders; simplification of the pre-qualification questionnaire for high value tenders; advertising all local authority contracts of £25,000 or over (or the authority’s standing order limit if higher) on Contracts Finder; and paying down the supplier chain in 30 days.

    The Local Government Transparency Code 2015 requires all local authorities to publish details of contracts exceeding £5,000 including information on whether or not the supplier is a small or medium sized enterprise and/or a voluntary or community sector organisation.

    However, the Department has made no assessment of the amount or proportion of local government procurement spend going to small and medium sized businesses.

  • Nick Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Nick Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Smith on 2016-05-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the annual budget is for food produced for her Department’s offices; and what proportion of food produced for her Department was sourced from British producers in the last period for which figures are available.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Department of Energy and Climate Change does not have an annual food budget. Catering services are provided via a DEFRA contract which is operated on a nil subsidy basis.

    Annual spend is determined by the contractor and is informed by private sales to members of staff.

    Forty-eight percent of food and drink provided through this contract is sourced from UK producers (based on figures for Jan-Mar 2016). This proportion reflects that a large volume of food and drink sold to staff includes non-indigenous products such as rice, pasta, tea, coffee and bananas, and that as this period falls in the Winter season there are out of UK seasonal products procured from the wider EU.

    One hundred percent of beef, chicken, lamb, pork, free range eggs, milk and yoghurt is sourced from the UK.

  • Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-07-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what his policy is on future UK involvement in the Innovative Medicines Initiative.

    Mr David Davis

    The Innovative Medicines Initiative is a joint undertaking between the European Union and the pharmaceutical industry association EFPIA to boost biomedical innovation. The UK remains a member of the EU until our withdrawal is completed. UK researchers can still apply for Horizon 2020 projects. Future involvement will need to be agreed in forthcoming negotiations.

  • Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-10-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if the Government will (a) carry out its own assessment and (b) support an independent international inquiry into whether the airstrike on a community hall in Sana’a, where a funeral was taking place, on 8 October 2016, breached international humanitarian law.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The Coalition has announced it will immediately investigate this case along with Joint Incidents Assessment Team (JIAT). The UK Government does not reach a conclusion as to whether or not an International Humanitarian Law violation has taken place in relation to each and every incident of potential concern that comes to its attention. This would simply not be possible in conflicts to which the UK is not a party, as is the case in Yemen. However, as I said in my statement of 9 October, we will press the coalition to release their report into this incident as a matter of urgency.

  • Marie Rimmer – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Marie Rimmer – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Marie Rimmer on 2015-11-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the habitual residence test on UK citizens returning to the UK from working overseas.

    Priti Patel

    I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Sheffield Central on 9 September 2015 to Question 8901:

    http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2015-09-04/8901/

    “

  • Bob Stewart – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Bob Stewart – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Stewart on 2015-12-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, through what means his Department communicates with and receives communications from Christian communities in Syria; and how he assesses the quality of information received otherwise by his Department on the situation of such communities in that country.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    Foreign and Commonwealth Office representatives meet Church leaders and Non-Governmental Organisations representing Christian communities in Syria on a regular basis in London, through our Embassy to the Holy See and at our Syria Offices in Beirut and Istanbul. We also receive regular correspondence from groups highlighting the situation of Christians in Syria. These sources provide us with valuable insights into the situation facing Christians in Syria and the region. We recognise the contribution that recognised religious leaders can make on the Syria political track. They and other leading members of civil society will need a strong voice in the debate on Syria’s future.